Saharareporters has come into possession of a document which shows that several former Nigerian Heads of State, and in some cases their wives, were beneficiaries of Halliburton bribe scandal. The document, which was addressed to the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on February 20, 2008, lists former Nigerian leaders Ibrahim Bademasi Babangida, General Abdussalam Abubakar, General Sani Abacha and Chief Ernest Shonekan as being among 80 Nigerians who collected inducements in exchange for contract favours at the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas project.

Maryam Bababangida and Maryam Abacha are also on the list.

The stunning list, which almost reads like a Who’s Who in Nigeria, contains the names of top civilian and former military leaders, governors, ministers and civil servant. They were obtained from five notebooks found on 2 September, 2004 in the archives of the London Office of Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) by investigating Halliburton Attorneys. KBR was the American subsidiary of TSKJ, the consortium which won scandal-tainted contract to build the liquefied natural gas plant in Bonny. The other companies in the consortium were Technip, from France; Snamprogetti SpA, from Italy; and Japan Gasoline Corp., from Japan.

In a list where every name stands out, some may be more a little more compelling than others. They include:

As extensive as the list is, more names are likely to follow because, as the report points out, it does not cover the three-year period between 24th March 1995 and 31st March 1998, for which no record was available. That period is significant for many reasons, including the fact that it was on 24 March 1995 that Don Obon Etiebiet handed over to Chief Dan Etete as Nigerian Minister of Petroleum Resources.

“The period before, during and immediately after the signing of this contract is very significant, as it would give a very realistic picture of related incidents, which occurred within this period,” said the report, noting that Etete was a key player in the scam and had already admitted to collecting money as inducement from Jeffrey Tesler/TSKJ to the investigating Magistrate in Paris. Saharareporters has been informed that another report is available that may implicate several key officials from the Obasanjo period.

At a time that Acting President Goodluck Jonathan has been pledging to the world that he will combat corruption in the country, it will be important to see how he reacts to the Halliburton file and many of the other international corruption scandals in which important Nigerians that were named have not been touched.

S/No

Name

Title/Position Held

Present Location

1.

Gen. I.B. Babangida (Rtd.)

Former President/ Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Minna, Niger State.

2.

Mrs. Maryam Babangida

Former First Lady Federal Republic of Nigeria

Minna, Niger State.

3.

Chief Enerst Shonekan

Former Head of the Interim National Government/Former Director of SPDC

Lagos.

4.

Gen. Abubakar Abdulsalami (Rtd.)

Former Head of State of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Niger State, Currently on Assignment with The United Nations

5.

Alhaji M. D. Yusufu

Former Chairman NLNG

Lagos-frontline Politician

6.

Mr. T.W. Oerlemans

Former MD/DCE

Australian

7.

Pius Okigbo

Renowned Economist: Headed The Probe Commission on the Gulf Crude Oil Excess sales set up by the Central Bank of Nigeria 1994.